Bears vs. Browns predictions: Can Chicago pull off the upset in Justin Fields’ first NFL start?

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The Chicago Bears (1-1) will battle the Cleveland Browns (1-1) on Sunday, where rookie quarterback Justin Fields will be making his first NFL start.

Last week against the Cincinnati Bengals, the Bears defense amassed four takeaways, and they’ll be looking to contend with a talented Browns offense. With Fields getting the start, look for an offense more tailored around his skillset, where there are chances to beat this Browns defense, which has looked shaky in the first couple of games.

Will Chicago pull off the upset in Justin Fields’ first NFL start? Our Bears Wire staff shares their predictions for Sunday’s game.

Alyssa Barbieri (2-0)

Jonathan Daniel/Getty Images

The moment we've all been waiting for is almost here as rookie Justin Fields prepares for his first NFL start. While Fields should provide a ton of excitement on offense, he faces a tough challenge on the road against the Browns. Still, this will be the first week where he has an entire week of practice to prepare as the starter and a game plan tailored to his skillset. While the Browns defense has a ton of talent, there are areas of this defense to be exploited, including in the secondary. On defense, Chicago will have to contend with an impressive Browns offense, which start with running the football with Nick Chubb and Kareem Hunt. Then there's quarterback Baker Mayfield, who has been insanely accurate through these first two weeks. While the Bears defense is coming off a dominating performance against the Bengals, they will be tested against this Browns offense. The Bears face an overall challenge on the road against a good Browns team, where things should be a lot closer than many expect. Still, I have Cleveland squeaking out a win here.

Prediction: Browns 24, Bears 20

Brendan Sugrue (2-0)

USA Today Sports

We’re all aboard the Justin Fields hype train heading into his first start of his (hopefully) long career with the Chicago Bears, right? Well...maybe not this week. I think he’s going to be the real deal, but history is not on the rookie’s side for this matchup, unfortunately. The Bears have never had a rookie make their first start on the road and won in the modern era of the NFL. Fields already has a lot of bad juju to make up for when it comes to ineptitude at the quarterback position and I don’t know if this one makes the cut. From a gambling standpoint, meanwhile, Matt Nagy is 1-13 straight up as an underdog of 3.5 points or more, according to 670 The Score’s Joe Ostrowski. The Bears are 7.5 point underdogs against the Browns, meaning this has to be a major upset for the Bears to win. Now, for the football side of things. This Browns team is very well coached by Kevin Stefanski. They haven’t thrown the ball too much this season, relying on a stellar ground game and solid defensive play. The Bears defense looked much better against the Bengals, but I think they take a step back. It’s a tough task for Fields on offense, and while I do think he has some moments that wow everyone, he’s going to start his career 0-1, like many other rookies before him. The Browns are just too good of a team, even without their top wideouts.

Prediction: Browns 30, Bears 23

Ryan Fedrau (2-0)

Mike Dinovo-USA TODAY Sports

Even though the Bears are coming off of an amazing defensive performance, the offense hasn’t shown me enough to pick them in this game. Outside of the first series against the Bengals, it was a very slow day for Chicago‘s offense. The Browns have a better defense than the Bengals do. It’s going to be a long day for the offense if Justin Fields doesn’t come out strong and they slack on the running game. Fields did struggle on Sunday, but the offense didn’t help him. The line continued to struggle and Allen Robinson dropped a key touchdown. Knowing Robinson, he won’t make that same mistake again. Still, I’m picking the Browns here. For the first time in the Matt Nagy era, the Bears will lose a Week 3 matchup and start off 1-2.

Prediction: Browns 24, Bears 20

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